Sunday, November 25, 2007

This whole town is covered in grayGod let it rain my nights to tomorrowSomeone here in tribulation

Say does it matter

Ultima Thule - homelessness, loneliness, and despair in a sea of humanity.

It has stopped raining today (This posting began on Sunday November 25, 2007.). Yeah, it was raw and rainy. Now it is just raw. Before the rain came, it had been bitter cold at night for 3 days, with strong winds. When the weather is cold raw, rainy, my consciousness is automatically drawn to the men, women, and children, who are homeless on the streets.

You see, I have found that if one is still present "consciously" in an embodied state of homelessness, that one "fairs" better when the weather is nicer, in the hell called homelessness.

Ultima Thule - New Orleans

In one city out of hundreds in this nation, on this planet - New Orleans - our brothers and sisters and their children who are homeless, are staying in shelters for the night, sleeping under the highways or sleeping on the street by the railroad tracks, their backs against the walls, with card board to protect them from the rain. Some of our homeless brothers and sisters will find rest in abandoned, rat infested, moldy houses made even more dangerous if someone with malice aforethought, has watched them go in alone, especially if they are women. Then there are the brothers and sisters who are staying in a place called "tent city" by city hall in New Orleans.

If you want to read up on "tent city" and homelessness in New Orleans:

As human beings there are three very basic bodily functions that must occur daily in order for the human body to survive.

1. Sleep2. Defecate and urinate3. Eat

When one is homeless the first and second of the above list, are the most difficult to surmount daily. Surmount is an accurate work to use unless you have found a safe and secure place in which you can take care of these needs.

When it comes to eliminating bodily waste, you really can't conceive of how important this is until you have no home of your own. Being homeless does not mean you stop being human with very human needs, the homeless amongst us crave some level of routine and safety, to sleep most especially.

Finding somewhere to "be".

For as many humans beings there are, there are reasons for homelessness. There are people who prefer to live on the streets. Most times it is because they have to in order to survive in the best way they know how to survive. Ultimately, society expects that each of us take care of ourselves or society will determine how you will be taken care of.

Even the homeless seek a place to call their own. A street corner, a bench, a place in the woods at night, beside a wall on a desolate street, an abandoned house... To rest and have the illusion of safety for a few hours.

When you are homeless, there are hours of relentless "nothingness" - "emptiness" - "loneliness" and "presentness" to the hell you are living in - unless drugs and alcohol are a part of your homeless experience.

There is a certain homeless man I have in my mind's eye right now. Sometimes he is out in his favorite spot speaking with beings I cannot perceive. Sometimes he is sitting quietly in this very public space and looks out of it and very tired. Then sometimes, he is able to look me in the eye and in those brief moments we "see" each other. One day I offered him food from my car window, a snack I was eating, I offered to share it with him as he was looking at me after I nodded hello to him, as I was sitting at the intersection. With an enormous smile and light in his eyes he thanked me and said no, and then he blessed me.

I have never been to India but I have seen film footage and read that their homeless men, especially those who choose to do so for spiritual purposes are treated with reverence. In this country to be homeless is to be treated as dangerous and to be chased away from neighborhoods.

Compassion on your terms for the homeless and poor.

You don't have to do alot to help someone who is homeless. Sometimes just acknowledging their presence is one way to help that individual in the moment.

There are many who might disagree, yet I always try to carry one dollar bills and change on me (when I have money), to give to anyone I might encounter who may ask. I have said no on occasion, but it is rare. I ask myself always, "who am I to judge this person's life for the sake of a dollar or a few dollars?" Too often I have met people who don't have enough change to get on the bus or to eat or to get a pack of smokes. I don't smoke, I know it will kill you, so will homelessness, I have learned in the moment, to learn to be present to what the individual who has asked me for help needs, to get through the next thousand moments. Sometimes people will use the money I give them for alcohol, I sometimes wonder will this be their last drink? Will my act of kindness be one of many random acts that perhaps brought about a moment in time for them when they hit their bottom? Who knows, I would rather be on the side of taking such a risk.

I understand what it is like at night for the homeless and finding a "safe" place to sleep. I remember sleeping on what I thought was abandoned property and having someone come to do me harm "because" I was homeless and vulnerable to their malice. I know what it is like to be shamed and humiliated by others for being homeless. I know what it is like for people to look out the windows and decide whether to call the police on you for being homeless. I know what it is like to feel constantly exposed and unsafe. I know what it is like not to have your own toilet and wonder what convienence store or fast food chain wouldn't stop you from using their bathroom. I know what hunger from poverty is like. I know what it is like to have to choose between gas to get the car moving or food. I know what it is like to spend hours suffering and to want to do anything I could to help my brain and body to escape the relentlessness of the living hell called homelessness.

These and thousands of other reasons gleaned through personal experience with homelessness and poverty inform my heart and mind to those who continue to suffer.

So if you are in New Orleans, and you want to help, in real-time, think about stopping by "tent city" by city hall. Bring packs of warm socks with you, inexpensive gloves, scarves, knit caps or something called HotHands which you can find in the camping section of Walmart. When someone is panhandling and it is raining, offer them your umbrella and some food if you don't want to give money.

Now that the weather is getting colder: the people down in "tent city" in the park by city hall, might appreciate your dropping by with:

If you and some friends feel up to the task - bring contractor bags (and plastic gloves) and just pick up the trash, be mindful about picking up clothes on the ground. You can create a pile to put stray clothing.

As you move around "tent city" make sure you say hello to those who are watching you and if people approach let them know that you wanted to come down and lend a hand. Because in the end, that is the most precious gift that we can bring to each other..."Seeing each other". Honouring the humanity within each of us no matter the circumstances we find each other in. I find it is best to go in the late afternoon around 4-4:30 before it gets dark. If you decide on picking up trash - I would go earlier in the day. Bring plastic gloves! And be prepared to deal with strong smells.

On giving person to person:

If your not comfortable with strangers or street smart, I would counsel you to be deliberate in how you choose to help.

My experiences when going to tent city: I keep in mind that when walk in to tent city within a few moments I will probably find that I am approached by the unofficial "protectors" of the area.

It seems that these individuals have taken on the task of watching over the area and each other in the park area. I have found that if I am present and aware of visible clues, these individuals will make themselves known, even ask if they can help. I try to always be mindful that this is where they live, they know who is a stranger and who is not. Sometimes no one will approach me and I move beyond my comfort zone and just walk around, making eye contact with whomever I meet. I walk around the perimeter first and then close to the tents, keeping a respectful distance remembering as the tent I am approaching is someones "home", I will usually go to areas where people are sitting outside their tents or sitting in a group.

I have consistently found each time I take a moment to help someone who is homeless, that many people are so grateful to be "seen" and remembered in their plight. There are a few angry personalities, as there are in any grouping settings. When I go into "tent city" I see acts of kindness which touch me deeply, I have seen people who are cold give away the Hot Hands I give to them to someone else who is even colder. I have seen the same occur with socks, someone came and asked me for a pair of socks and later I saw him giving them to someone else who was deeper into tent city, someone I might not have reached.

The people who live on the street "homeless" help me to remember my humanity. These are my brothers and sisters and my 'eye' is always aware of them when I am out driving or walking. Those who are homeless are living in very challenging circumstances at best. The smell alone of the urine is so overpowering and I wonder that they are not given the dignity of port-o-potties as this "tent city" was, according to stories I have read, set up by the police.

Someone asked me how to "help" someone who is homeless without being condescending - to even be thinking in this way tells me that this person strives to "be" compassionate.

What I appreciated when I was homeless is what every human appreciates - being looked in the eye with dignity and a smile or with compassion, not pity. Sometimes you will meet people with serious mental illnesses who cannot make eye contact, you will"know them" when you see them. Often they will shy away from you.

When approaching someone who is homeless I always ask if either "they mind if I approach", or if I have something to share I might say as I am walking up to a group or an individual, "I have some socks (etc.) and was wondering if you could use some warm socks". I might, depending upon the individual and what I perceive to be their ability to socialize, say more or just walk away, as for some homeless folks, that is all the social contact that they want.

You will meet in 'tent city', some people who are uncommonly generous and others who seem hoardingly selfish, others who are just broken and discarded by our society. The goal as a brother or sister who seeks to love without judging - is to check your thoughts and inner judgements around any perceived behaviours. It is hard to understand with compassion what it is like to be homeless without being homeless and what happens to some behaviorally in such situations.

When approaching areas where people have no tents and only a mattress or are sleeping under a blanket (these individuals are so much more exposed) I stay a few feet away out of respect of their space and ask them (if they are making eye contact with me) if they would like what I are offering or if they would find the item helpful. Sometimes, these individuals do not want what you offer, or perhaps they unable to trust you to come over and take what you are offering. Whatever the reason I try to remember the person I am speaking with lives in "exposed" conditions all the time. These brothers and sisters have no privacy, sense of safety, or security.

The most profound lessons I learned in my years of suffering in Ultima Thule, is the power of eye contact, generosity, and unconditional love.

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TRUTH-FORCE ('SATYAGRAHA') AND THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH

The root meaning of 'Satyagraha', according to Mahatma Gandhi, was the force of truth or the soul-force that underlay the philosophy and practice of non-violent resistance. This force could move mountains and set men free.

Today, the challenges of life ask us to more firmly hold onto the force of truth within us so that we may stand aligned with the peoples of the world who are suffering, and with the earth itself that is in great need.

"WE ARE NOT OKAY"

NEW ORLEANS 2 YEARS LATER

A LONG WAY HOME - FIVE STORIES IN THE MIDST OF HUNDREDS OF ELDERLY RESIDENTS IN KATRINA-TORN NEW ORLEANSPHOTOGRAPHS AND AUDIO FROM GENARO MOLINA OF THE LA TIMES:Charles TaylorIn the Lower Ninth Ward, 81-year-old Charles Taylor has taken matters into his own hands and is rebuilding his home. After going through chemotherapy and radiation for stomach cancer in Mississippi, he felt well enough to make his way back to New Orleans to fix up his home. Narrated gallery

Joyce Boudousquie and Tommy Bilich Though some of the elderly are forced to go it alone, others have banded together. Joyce Boudousquie, 73, and Tommy Bilich, 75, struck up a friendship that Katrina could not tear apart. “Some neighbor of mine who is very close to me introduced me to Tommy and we became friends,” Joyce said.Narrated gallery

Joyce Simms Woods Joyce Simms Wood, 77, is surrounded by the few possessions that Hurricane Katrina did not steal from her. She’s been living in a FEMA trailer with dogs Ricky and Spreckles as her only companions, along with a TV that’s never turned off. “Everybody wants to go home, but I’m not home,” she said.Narrated gallery

Andrew Frick An ailing Andrew Frick, 84, bides his time in a FEMA trailer park while waiting for construction on his home in St. Bernard Parish to wrap up. Memories of his beloved wife, who passed away last year after 46 years of marriage, have sustained him through the rough patches.Narrated gallery

Juliette and John Allen Juliette Allen, 64, visits the area where her house once stood in the Lower Ninth, now a wide patch of dirt. She and husband John, 74, plan to return. Although they live in a small, roach-infested home in the Lower Garden District, Juliette counts her blessings to be in New Orleans. Narrated gallery

WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP?

Each of the following ads seek much needed help and are not asking for a lot of commitment. A 'burst' of help is needed...

Desperately Seeking Donations

We are a community advocacy non-profit 501(c)3 agency assisting individuals with disabilities. We desperately need donations (cars...running, household items, or other things of value) to help fund our community-based program. Your donations will help individuals with disabilities find and develop income producing ventures to enhance their lives. Tax donation forms available.

Call Christopher or Sue at (504)366-8801.

BOOKS 2 PRISONERS NEEDS HELP MOVING/BUILDING

We are moving our program back to it's post K home.

We need help framing and hanging the walls, and them moving the stuff.

for more info go to http:// www.geocities.com/books2prisoners

Posted: December 27, 2007

HELP ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY THIS HOLIDAY...

...so I'm just a regular guy who heard a very sad thing on the radio. A soldier stationed in Baghdad said, "This is not America's war, this in only a soldiers war on TV some place far far away."

He's right. What sacrifices have I made...not many. Regardless of whether you agree or don't agree (and I don't, vehemently), the fact is those guys and gals are doing it and dying for it under the flag of our United States.

So this holiday season, my organization, Grass Matts, is going to find homes in New Orleans of active duty military personnel and go cut their grass, trim a hedge, or paint a mail box.

Whatever chore they may need for half a day or so. If anyone is interested in joining me to say thank you with deeds and not just words, please send me an email or give me a call.

FROM YOUR PLANETARY SISTER:Helping, I have found is not always about doing the big, grand things, often helping can be at it's most meaningful when we are helping another planetary brother and sister in meaningful ways for them. This could be something you can do, if you want to help, by setting the blog for Kamp Katrina and showing them how to upload future articles and pictures. Once it has been started and organized, MS Pearl could take it from there. Or, she could find someone else who would be willing to help in the next phase. Here's the thing I have found out about "helping" - it can feel like a small thing to you, whilst at the same time, feel like a very big thing to the recipient. PEACE.

NEW ORLEANS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SEEKS VOLUNTEERS!

Looking for a way to thank the thousands of volunteers from all over the world who have come to New Orleans to offer their support?New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity is seeking volunteers to help renovate Camp Hope, our volunteer housing in Saint Bernard. Help us make Camp Hope a comfortable, affordable, place to house our volunteers who have travelled from afar to help rebuild our city! For more information please contact Melissa Manuselis atvolunteer@habitat-nola.org.

Welcome...

This is a challenging blog to read... it is a difficult blog to write. The challenges and difficulties are even greater for those living the reality I that I document and photograph. After I have finished with a day of volunteering and photographing, I have the opportunity to walk away from the worst of the suffering. Not so for the families, the children, and the elderly, living in the toxic FEMA trailers, the abandoned houses, violence prone and devastated neighborhoods. Their suffering is ongoing and profound. I have never met stronger people of faith.

In our modern society I have noticed that many people spend an awful lot of time avoiding suffering and pain. That's what makes this blog so challenging to read and to "be with". I am sure there will be those who come to this site and wonder "why doesn't she post more positive things?" I am photographing and writing about the reality that I am witnessing and I understand that after a long day at work or trying to get through your own lives, how you would want to push the painful photo's and experiences I write about, away.

Here's the thing, if there weren't so many instances and experiences of suffering in New Orleans, I would have nothing to document or photograph. Yet there are far too many. And so, I write, I photograph, I pray, I cry, and I feel my profound helplessness as I witness the suffering and the hardships endured by local New Orleanians daily - many seeking to overcome (and overcoming) incredible difficulties and sufferation, whilst others succumb to fates of hopelessness, poverty, crime, and illiteracy.

This blog is my contribution to the beautiful people of New Orleans. When I have finished my work in New Orleans, I plan donate all the photo’s I have taken to an archive, as many of the photo‘s are anthropological in nature.

Everything on this site is meant to be shared, to inspire, and to help educate the millions in this country and elsewhere on this planet who believe that 2 years after Katrina and the levee breaks, that "everything must be okay now".

2 years after Katrina and the levee breaks, for thousands of New Orleanians, everything “is not okay“.

Volunteers are still needed. Especially people who can help rebuild. Even more so, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and spiritual counselors who are willing to come down and volunteer. Your help is still needed. Your financial donations are needed. Your love is needed. Your prayers and blessings are needed.

Spread the word. Feel free to use anything on this website. All I ask is that you credit what you use to this web-site so that people will be able to read more about what I have witnessed occurring to thousands still suffering in New Orleans.

IRAQ IS OUR VIETNAM AND NEW ORLEANS IS OUR BIRMINGHAM

"This moment in history is our generation’s lunch-counter moment -Iraq is our Vietnam and New Orleans is our Birmingham. Our generation could be the generation to defeat racism, poverty and war, but only if we come together as people of conscience."

REBUILDING-DISASTER RESOURCES: NOLA

"Do you ever see the rainbow in the sky? Do the colors fight amongst themselves? Then why should mankind fight amongst themselves trough their different colors? The whole world is a garden and all the people in it are his flowers and we all beautify this garden with all our different colors. As the rainbow is in the heavens so are we, as rainbow people in his earth. Jah made all colors so all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful he made them all. Each little flower that opens, and each little bird that sings he made their glowing colors and he made their tiny wings. So remember: What does it profit a man to gain the whole word and lose his soul."

PERSONAL "PLANETARY" RESONANCE

IN GRATITUDE...

To the Volunteers - Who responded with love and kindness. Most of all, to those who came and gutted out the houses - a toxic job and a special job - as your work involved the 'gutting out' of lives, histories, and heritiages. Your work was so important in the first phase of the ongoing healing process. It is the volunteers - past, present, and future, who are an essential key to the rebuilding of trust and hope... by your very presence. Thank you.

To the People of the Heart - Thank you for trusting me and allowing me into your lives to share your pain with you. Most of all, for your smiles and waves as I drive through your communities, and a gratitude which is expressed in your hugs and words of love and blessings. To be seen with love through your eyes is to "be seen". I am humbled by your strength, courage, and dignity.

On Suffering and Compassion:

"The experience of woundedness has been a part of the history of souls on earth. The experience of wholeness is the 'new' history, whose pages are beginning to be written."
Julie Redstonewww.LightOmega.org